Falcon understudy has the look of a winner
By Nick Cafardo | August 29, 2004

The fun of exhibition football, if nothing else, is watching an unknown player starring for at least one blissful moment. Sometimes they become household names. Sometimes they fade into oblivion. Sometimes they are Michael Bishop. Sometimes they are Tom Brady. Sometimes we watch them and say, "Gee, he reminds me of . . ."

Which category will Atlanta Falcons rookie quarterback Matt Schaub fall into? Who knows? But when a kid draws attention away from perhaps the best athlete in the league -- Michael Vick -- we tend to watch a little closer. In a 24-21 win over the Minnesota Vikings Aug. 20, Schaub completed 16 of 19 passes for 205 yards, with three touchdown passes and no interceptions.

And last night, starting in place of the injured Vick, Schaub passed for three touchdowns, leading the Falcons past the Cincinnati Bengals, 37-10. Guiding the Falcons to a 27-7 halftime lead, Schaub completed 14 of 20 passes for 214 yards.

At 6 feet 5 inches, 237 pounds, you can almost guess whom this kid reminded people of with his precision passing, smart decisions, and feel for the moment. "To be compared to a guy who has won two Super Bowl MVPs, yeah, that's extremely flattering," said Schaub. "I've watched a lot of film on Tom over the past few years, and watched him closely when I was at Virginia. He's definitely a guy you watch to see how he handles situations, how he protects the ball, what makes him so good. To be that good would be anyone's dream come true."

At Virginia, Schaub played for Al Groh, the former Patriots defensive coordinator and Jets head coach. He completed 66.9 percent of his passes in four seasons, second best in NCAA Division 1-A history to Kentucky's Tim Couch (67.2).

Scouts projected him (accurately) as a third- or fourth-rounder. The rap was that he didn't have a particularly strong arm, but in the Minnesota game, he made a variety of throws with accuracy and precision. He's been doing it throughout camp.

Schaub was familiar with the kind of West Coast-style offense that coordinator Greg Knapp runs in Atlanta, because Bill Musgrave employed a similar system as Virginia's offensive coordinator (before he left to join the Jaguars). But it had to be daunting to be drafted by a team that already had a franchise quarterback.

Still, said Schaub, "I started to think, `Well, this is a good thing. I get to watch this phenomenal athlete play and learn from him.'

"He's a special player. There's no way I could possibly match his skills, and to even attempt it would be foolish. I just have to play my game, play to my strengths. I need to make good throws and good reads, not turn it over, and just try to improve every time I take the field."

Schaub is in a battle with veteran Ty Detmer for the No. 2 spot, another aspect of the story that sounds familiar. Brady beat out Damon Huard for the No. 2 job in Patriots camp in 2001, and when Drew Bledsoe went down in Game 2 of that season, Brady got his chance and never looked back.

Vick does a lot of running around and improvising, and with that he exposes his body to collisions with very big men. Schaub is very aware that he could be one hit away from being the starter.

"That's why I always have to be prepared and that's why I need to learn as quickly as I can," said Schaub, who was born in Pittsburgh but grew up in the Philadelphia area and idolized John Elway. "I know not every game I play will be like the one last week when it was a total team effort where the guys in front of me were blocking, and the receivers were running great routes, and everything just meshed so nicely. Every young quarterback is going to struggle. It's being able to learn from those struggles and those mistakes that will take you to the next level."

Many young players comment about the speed of the NFL game compared with college, and Schaub likewise is struck by the small window he has in which to make a play.

"The time you have to throw a pass successfully to your receiver is so much less than it is in college," Schaub said. "That window closes so rapidly."

His window of opportunity may not.

 

Moore-like receiver poised for strong season
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
August 30, 2004

No, they don’t wear the same number and the physical resemblance is a passing one but just that.

Still, when one takes a quick glimpse at sophomore Fontel Mines it conjures a vision - ever so slightly - of another Virginia wide receiver.

Herman Moore wore No. 87, not Mines’ No. 84, and is perhaps an inch taller than Mines’ 6-foot-4 but, whether it be just for an instant, the similarity is there.

It’s not as if the Richmond native hasn’t heard it, either.

“We hear it all the time from Herman Moore to Billy McMullen. It’s the stereotype of the big receiver and the possession type of receiver,” Mines said with an acknowledging smile. “It’s an honor to be compared to those guys who play in the NFL or who have played in the NFL. Herman was in town not too long ago and he’s a great guy.”

Of course, if Mines can begin to produce similar results as Moore - a considerable feat indeed - it is likely the comparisons will be made more and more, no pun intended, every passing day.

Mines had six receptions for

66 yards during his initial season and recorded his first career touchdown catch on an 18-yard strike from Matt Schaub against North Carolina.

Mines and classmate Deyon Williams have arguably had the best training camps among the Virginia receivers and are in the mix for a starting position along with senior Michael McGrew, who is returning from an injury that sidelined him for the entire 2003 season.

Earlier this week, UVa coach Al Groh was asked about McGrew’s prospects for the upcoming season and he slipped in a little praise for Mines.

“He’s getting a lot of competition on his own team from Fontel Mines,” Groh said.

Earlier in training camp, Groh claimed that Mines “was making a good move.”

While neither Mines nor Williams’ statistics would indicate significant contributions during their freshmen campaigns, their experience was significant in itself. It’s a point made by Groh and also Mines.

“Of course, it did help to play last season. Coming into your college career, you really don’t understand the fundamentals and everything you need to develop to be a college player,” Mines said. “We are now very well prepared for what we were getting ourselves into.”

If some have indicated that the receiving corps may be a question mark, Mines flatly disagrees.

“We really don’t feel as if wide receivers are a question mark for our team. With Michael [McGrew] coming back, he provides leadership and helps us a lot,” Mines said. “We feel that we are a strong unit.”

Last summer when Mines was beginning his apprenticeship as a wide-eyed wide receiver, one of his tutors was Marques Hagans. Actually, Hagans was learning the receiver possession a little himself after transitioning from quarterback.

Now Hagans is back under center and Mines and company face the reality of catching passes for a person they used to run routes with.

“It’s funny, we go back and look at last year’s tapes and see Biscuit [Hagans] at receiver and now he’s quarterback,” Mines said. “That probably makes it a closer relationship than other quarterbacks and receivers but that’s the whole team right now. We’re a real close unit.”

Back to the comparisons between him and Moore. Mines sees them but aims to be his own man.

“Right now, I think I’m the kind of receiver that can make a good possession catch and make some big plays. You want to go out and do whatever plays that will help your team win,” Mines said. “I’ve heard it a few times [the comparison to Moore] and it’s an honor but I also want to be my own person and player.”
 

U.Va. ready to hit the books and the field
Cavs' season-opener against Temple Owls just five days away
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Aug 30, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE Classes begin Wednesday at the University of Virginia. Football season officially starts for U.Va. three days later, in Philadelphia.

Most of the Cavaliers watched their in-state rivals kick off the season on national television Saturday night. Virginia Tech's Hokies battled valiantly before falling 24-13 to the nation's top-ranked team, Southern Cal, in Landover, Md.

The 16th-ranked Cavs' first opponent, unlike the mighty Trojans, won't be found in any preseason polls. Virginia meets Temple at noon Saturday at 68,532-seat Lincoln Financial Field in the first game between these schools.

The Cavaliers have finished above .500 in 18 of the past 21 seasons. Since going 6-5 in 1984, the Owls have posted a winning record only once in 1990, when they finished 7-4 (and beat Virginia Tech 31-28). Temple went 1-11 last season, its sixth under coach Bobby Wallace.

The Owls call the Big East home for football, but not for much longer. Temple, a member of the Atlantic 10 in basketball and the Olympic sports, is to be evicted from the Big East after this season.

The Big East may not want the Owls, but U.Va. was happy to add them to their 2004 and '05 schedules after Texas-El Paso backed out of a series. Temple will play at Scott Stadium in 2005.

"We needed a game for two years," Virginia coach Al Groh said, "and we clearly wanted to play a [Division] I-A team."

The Cavaliers closed their preseason training camp Wednesday. After taking Thursday off, the team reconvened Friday morning and turned its attention to Temple.

Groh has been breaking down videotape of the Owls for months and said he's "very impressed with the quarterback."

That would be Walter Washington, a 6-2, 240-pound junior from Daytona Beach, Fla. Washington, who passed for 1,265 yards and eight touchdowns last season, is "big, strong [and has] a lot of range on his throws," Groh said.

Washington may be more dangerous as a runner. In Temple's overtime loss to Virginia Tech on Nov. 15 last year, he rushed 26 times for 151 yards. In the season finale two weeks later, he carried 36 times for 117 yards and four TDs against West Virginia.

At least five true freshmen are likely to play against Temple, said Groh, who named cornerback Philip Brown, safeties Nate Lyles and Jamaal Jackson, tight end Tom Santi and defensive end Chris Long.